This species was split from the Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis vulpinus) in 2011 by Crother et al.

Benton County, Iowa—May 6, 2017

My trip to western Missouri and a little bit of eastern Kansas was diverted up to Iowa because my friend Matt Cage really wanted to see his first foxsnake. Fortunately for us, Iowa locals Jim and Laura Scharosch knew right where to look, and Matt found this one at the first location we checked.

Linn County, Iowa—May 6, 2017

This one that we found under a board later in the day was significantly more colorful and significantly larger than the one we had found earlier. It also had some old healed injury to the right side of its face that left its head a little weirdly shaped.